Category: mountaineering

This weekend, I’m hiking up Mt. Shasta with a couple of friends. This will be one of my friend’s first winter mountaineering ascents, so I wrote up an email with a detailed packing list. Here it is:

Hey, I’m finally getting around to sorting my gear and wanted to send you some infos just so that you’ve got another perspective on the gear required. My general philosophy is going to be “bring lots, leave some in the car.” It will allow for changing conditions before we start. Also, there’s a balance between extra layers, backups, and taking as little as possible. Just know that this list is going to err toward taking extra layers. With the conditions looking fairly mild, I’ll plan on ditching some things.

This coming mountaineering season, I have three trips planned: my second ascent up Mt. Shasta, a trip to summit Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood, and, if all goes well, a late summer climb up Mt. Rainier. Rainier is home to 26 glaciers making it the most glaciated peak in the lower 48 states, and has more prominence—the vertical distance from the peak to the surrounding area—than K2, the second highest mountain in the world. I am very excited. At the same time, however, these sorts of trips are so out of character for me, I cannot believe my gear is already spread out over half my floorspace.